By Sid Maxwell

Submitted by sTevo Smith

Howdy folks.

Hope all are doing well. Don’t know about you, but it’s been a real busy time of year for me. It happens every year. Right before the rainy season, everyone all of the sudden wants the exterior of their house painted "Before the rains come". So I have been trying to tie up loose ends and finish what I can. On top of all that, my wife and I got in this organizing mode and went nuts on my office/work space. Turning out pretty cool but this organizing takes a lot of time. Need to do it though otherwise I won’t have a space to work on the important things in my life. You know, building planes and stuff.

Well what I’m trying to get at (yes I am trying to get to something) we would like to see where you work on your stuff. I am including a pic of my still messy office/shop to get the ball rolling. I will have to take another shot when I get it really together but for now its better than it was. (You should have seen the before shot). I also have a bench out in the Garage but that will have to wait for another rainy spell. It is so hard for me to take the time needed to do this but once I get started I tend to be a little obsessive. Don’t know if you can see it but there is a mirror on the back wall that is angled so I can see all the way to the edge of the table. It really helps especially when you don’t have the room to have a bench that can be used from both sides. I also use a Great Planes Magnetic building board which I don’t know how I got along without it before. I did surrender one wall for my wife’s craft table but that is a small price to pay to have 70 % of the rest of the room. She is pretty supportive of my hobby and that means a lot.

Wanted to take a moment here to mention a few club member who might like to know their fiends are thinking of them.

There are a few in the club that have been having some health issues and we just want to let them know they are missed.

I spoke with Roland DeConti a few weeks ago and he said "he hasn’t been feeling too good." He seemed to really appreciate thinking of him so if you have a spare minute, pick up the phone and give our buddy a call 433-7930. It would really make his day and yours too.

Another is Joe Kagan. He is doing better but his wife Rita was scheduled for surgery last I spoke with him. Hope everything is going okay Joe.

And we don’t want to forget our own "Fearless Flyer" Sid Maxwell. His girlfriend has been having a rough go of it for awhile now. We hope she is recovering well Sid.

Okay now. For y’all to fully appreciate why I am in such need for organization:

Here is an email sent to me back in May 2003 from one of our former Presidents, Kevin Riecke

Hey Stevo-here is some stuff for the newsletter or whatever.

Here are a couple of pics of the Grumman F7F-3 Tigercat. The kit is by JR Custom Products Inc., Tucson AZ. The kit is mfg. on request only, and I don’t think its available any longer. I have spent approx 3 hours to skin the cores, plumb with piping for ailerons and throttles, and construct the boxes inside the nacelles. I couldn’t wait to tape the pieces together to get a quick peek at the general outline. The span will be 66", and unlike the other Grumman plane I built I will not clip these wings. Target weight is 10.5 lbs. and I may actually achieve it due to using lightweight composites and carbon fiber. The ply spar was replaced with a carbon fiber spar already. Retracts are Spring Air with scale Robostruts. Power is 2 OS .61s with pitts mufflers. It will not be lacking for power, but as with most of my planes I like to have more than enough and fly with mild throttle settings. The rudder will be set up with a gyro…..just in case of an engine taking a break in flight. I will also use an on board glow system. JR 4131, 811 servos will be on control surfaces. More pics as work progresses. The kit is a fast builder, but I have to say I’m glad to have a few kits under the belt as this kits instructions can be pretty vague in places. Its definitely not for a beginner with few building skills.

Awesome projects Kev. He always comes up with these really neat kits. I emailed him back and apologized for the delay. Hopefully he will send us some updated photos soon. Thanks Kevin.

Here is another email I misplaced. (Man, I’m just spilling my guts here. Note to self: Don’t drink Margaritas when working on newsletter late at night).

This is from Rich Larson. Sorry for the delay Hope the offer still stands.

"I'm a contractor that installs home theater systems and just recently worked out an association with a retail TV/Stereo store in the north bay. I can purchase audio/ video equipment at near wholesale prices. I thought I'd see if anyone in the club was interested in making some trades for equipment. A big screen TV has

$500 to $1500 markup and Plasma TV's can have as much as $4000 markup. Stereo systems usually have about a 40% markup. I'm not looking for a $1-to-$1 trade and the equipment doesn't necessarily have to be new, either. Eric wants to get into helicopters and I'm hoping this will be a practical way for us to start flying them. I'll work out the details with whoever is interested.

Here's a list of some of the equipment I can get at a discount: home stereo equipment, home theater equipment, most TV's (tube, big screen, plasma),

home speakers and subwoofers, VCRS, DVD players, camcorders, digital cameras, CD players, headphones, car stereo equipment and speakers, PA (public address) systems."

Thanks,

Rich Larsen

rich@lightnsound.biz

707-526-5413

Looking back on a great day of combat, I thought I would share all of my set-up secrets to try to talk more people into coming out and joining us. Combat set-up centers entirely on aircraft agility. The more agile and quick your craft is, the more chances you will have at your opponents streamer. It is all about turning performance. There are several things I did to improve this. Since we are all flying the same engine/plane combo, several small things add up to sizeable advantage. Here’s what I did.

1. Make the plane as light as possible. This means the smallest servo’s that will do the job along with a tiny receiver and a small capacity battery pack. Ounces count here! I also cut out the lightening holes bigger than marked.

2. To further lighten the wing loading, I added approx. 7 inches to the span with balsa wing tips. This adds wing area at a minimal weight penalty, lowering the wing loading. This has a dramatic effect on turning performance.

3. When you glue in the tail boom, pull it as far out as possible and still retain a good joint. Also move the stabilizer about 1 inch further back than the stock location. This will make it fly smoother at the more rearward C.G. position discussed in the next tip. I added a small dorsal fin to the rudder to add directional stability. The stock bats I’ve seen fly need more fin area. When I build another one, I will cut a new one out with considerably more area. When turning hard on the edge of a stall, the extra area really helps.

4. The stock C.G. is a safe bet for a stable plane, but we want a carving machine! You can move it back 3/8 inch or more if you are careful about it. It is VERY IMPORTANT if you move the C.G. aft you REDUCE elevator travel. The plane will not be anymore sensitive if done properly, it will just loop tighter. Once you have the C.G. set, increase travel slowly until it snaps out of a full throttle loop. Add about 30% expo to soften the center up and you’re set.

5. The iron-on hinge is HEAVY! I used the covering material to make my hinges. This does two things. It lightens the plane (light, light, light!) and it seals the gaps making the controls much more effective.

6. I mounted the motor as far back as it would go in the mount and cut the rest off. Two more gains here. Its lighter again, and by moving the motor closer to the C.G., you are reducing the inertial moment making for a quicker turning plane.

7. Make sure your vent line in the tank is as close to the top as possible. You want to get every last drop of fuel in the tank. You have to make it through the entire round to score all possible points and you can’t do that if your motor runs out of fuel. In addition, with some power plant mods discussed later, you will use more fuel.

That pretty much wraps up the airframe portion, lets look at the business end. In combat, speed is life! Speed will get you to the target quicker, and get you out of harms way in a flash.

1. Firstly the little Magnum .15 is a hot motor when treated right. The most dramatic thing you can do is take the muffler apart and drill out as much of the exhaust baffle as possible. Use lots of Loc-tite for reassembly. The baffle is there to keep the noise level reasonable, but the motor is so quiet anyway, the increase in noise is not out of line at all. This is good for at least 1-2k rpm increase.

2. Balance that prop! These motors will turn over 17k and unload more in the air. An unbalanced prop will rob rpm and make the plane vibrate excessively. This could lead to premature breakage of the muffler bolts. (More on this later) This alone is worth a few hundred rpm.

3. The weak link is the muffler, or more specifically the muffler bolts. Do not use the gasket provided. This allows a small amount of play between the motor and muffler and I feel this causes the bolts to break. Replace the bolts with Du-bro ones, they are socket head and are of a higher tensile strength. Use lots of loc-tite for reassembly.

4. Don’t be tempted to run higher nitro. It won’t help, the motor is timed conservatively and it will just be a waste.

5. Don’t lean for peak rpm. The plane will lean out due to the hard G’s it’s pulling and from getting hotter from flying at a slower airspeed with full power due to all the maneuvering you’ll be doing. Set it slightly fatter than you normally would and it will be fine.

I don’t think anyone who saw my plane fly would argue the fact that I had a considerable edge on the rest of the field. I could pick my targets at will and run away from the heat at anytime. There is nothing magic about my plane. I just put in a little extra thought and effort into the setup. When we all start with the same stuff, you have to work hard to find an edge. I will gladly help anyone who would like to get the most from their set-up. I don’t expect to have an edge next time. C’mon let’s fight!

OK, Mark your calendars cause this is the only event left this year. Last year was a blast so you should really try to make it if you can. We are going to have some great prizes to be given away so be there and have some fun with us.